In A.T.V. Case, a Police Sketch but No Suspect

What began over the weekend as a simple traffic stop has escalated into a manhunt for the driver of a four-wheel all-terrain vehicle who ran down a New York City police officer and dragged him nearly 200 feet down a busy Brooklyn street.

The authorities have made one mistaken arrest, and, as of Tuesday evening, had not found the driver, who sped away after dragging the officer on Sunday. The Police Department on Tuesday released a sketch of the suspect, a lean-faced man wearing a black helmet wreathed in skulls.

The investigation was initially hampered after the police mistakenly arrested another man who was driving an A.T.V. nearby. That driver, Christian Oliviere, 23, also sped away as he was approached by police officers and was found hiding inside a vehicle that had been hoisted on a jack at a Brooklyn body shop.

The Police Department initially said that Mr. Oliviere was positively identified by the injured officer’s partner. The police were investigating whether he was acquainted with the driver. He is still charged with reckless driving, resisting arrest and fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle, among other charges.

It is illegal to ride all-terrain vehicles and dirt bikes in New York City, and young riders have become a menace in some neighborhoods, authorities say, performing daredevil stunts and frequently disregarding traffic rules. The police say that dirt bikers and A.T.V. riders are more prone to try to outrun police cars because they can more easily outmaneuver the vehicles.

The altercation began when two police officers in an unmarked vehicle pulled over the driver of a yellow Yamaha A.T.V. after observing him weaving in and out of traffic and driving on the sidewalk along South Conduit Avenue in East New York, the Police Department said in a statement on Sunday. The officers confronted the driver and he drove off with one of the officers clinging to the handlebars.

The officer, who was not identified, sustained a broken nose and vertebrae as well as extensive cuts and scrapes to his left leg, the police said.

“He had another procedure last night,” Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said on Tuesday, after speaking with the officer. “He was in good spirits, still a lot of pain and discomfort.”

Joseph Goldstein contributed reporting.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page A24 of the New York edition with the headline: In A.T.V. Case, a Police Sketch but No Suspect. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe